


Kidnappings and Recoveries

by DemigodNamedAthena



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Kidnapping, The Dark Sides - Freeform, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 11:11:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19462786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemigodNamedAthena/pseuds/DemigodNamedAthena
Summary: Written for anonymous prompt over on Tumblr:"H-heres a prompt. H-How about Sanders sides w-where Logan gets swiped by the dark sides a-and the others have to find him? (Angsty as possible please)"





	Kidnappings and Recoveries

The Mindscape looks different at night. The lights cast strange shadows that can be mistaken for living, moving creatures. The lights in the kitchen tend to flicker, which is odd as their counterparts in Thomas’s real apartment do not. 

It unsettles Virgil, and he tends to avoid the downstairs at night. Patton has never noticed it, and Roman is mostly likely responsible for the strange atmosphere at nighttime. The creative side has a flair for the dramatic in that way.

Logan does not mind. Of course, he has noticed the way the shadows seem alive- but logic tells him that this is a simply a trick of his eyes. The flickering lightbulb is not menacing- rather a coincidence of timing and the influence of a certain creative side.

So Logan walks through the Mindscape without a concern in the world, book in hand and headed for the coffee pot. (Decaf, of course. The ingestion of caffeine this late at night would only serve to disrupt his circadian rhythm even further.)

The strange ticking sound that he hears does not concern him, neither does the way all the lights dim momentarily before coming back to full brightness. He pours his coffee and ignores his surrounds, thinking ahead to Thomas’s week. He had a short video to film, as well as a meeting with the co-writers for the next episode. And, of course, Logan would have to schedule in the appropriate amount of time for brainstorming, per Roman’s request, and appropriate time for self-care, per Patton’s. 

These are the thoughts that Logan was thinking when a hiss came from behind him. 

He didn’t even have time to gasp before there was a hand around his mouth and another around his waist, pulling him back into the patch of shadow that had been growing, escaping Logan’s notice.

The only thing left behind was the shattered coffee mug on the kitchen floor. 

**~~~**

Contrary to popular belief, Patton was always a late riser, waking up far later than the sun rose. His sleep schedule was rather irregular; he often found himself losing track of time and not even realizing it was 3am till he glanced at a clock. It seemed to concern Logan, who would often huff in exasperation when Patton stumbled down the stairs well past noon. 

Logan had the most consistent schedule of them all, always arriving in the kitchen at 7:30 to have his first cup of coffee, and then his second after that.

So when Patton rolled out of bed at 10 o’clock, he thoroughly expected to see Logan in the kitchen.

Instead, he was met with an empty room. Patton couldn’t help the sense of worry that overcame him, and he called out for Logan, hoping to hear a response.

Nothing.

Stepping into the kitchen, Patton dropped his gaze to the ground and saw Logan’s mug- a mug with the  _ NASA _ logo on it- shattered on the ground.

“Virgil! Roman!” He yelled, panic tinging his voice. Logan would never leave a mess on the floor, not like this. Not with his mug, which he was far more attached to than he liked to admit. Which meant Logan didn’t have a chance to clean it up, which meant-

“Logan’s gone!” Patton said, wheeling around to see Virgil and Roman standing there, looking different stages of awake. At his exclamation, however, they immediately seemed to wake up.

“Gone? Pat, what do you mean?” Roman asked, a confused frown on his face.

“He’s not down here and he should be and his coffee mug is on the floor and it’s broken and there’s coffee everywhere and Logan would never leave a mess like this especially not  _ his mug and he’s missing!”  _ Patton barely stopped for a breath, just plowing ahead in his speech, voice getting louder and more panicked towards the end till he was practically yelling. 

Virgil winced at the noise while Roman stepped forward, gripping Patton’s arms. 

“Hey, deep breath Patton, it won’t help us if you get all worked up. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Now Roman, do you really think  _ lying _ is the best course of action here?” A silky voice came from behind them, causing all three Sides to turn around.

Deceit was leaning against a wall, casually examining his gloves.

“I hardly think it will do anything to calm Morality down.”

“What are  _ you  _ doing here?” Virgil hissed, gripping the sleeves of the other two as if to hold them back.

“Oh you know how I  _ love  _ chaos, Virgil. I suppose I’m just here to watch the drama unfold.” Deceit drawled, still leaning against the wall with an affected look of disinterest. Virgil charged forward and pushed Deceit against the wall, practically seething.

“Where’s Logan? What did you do to him?”

“Oh really Virgil, there’s no need to get so worked up.” Deceit said, pushing Virgil off of him and straightening his jacket. “And I had nothing to do with whatever happened to Logan, you’d have to take it up with the...Others. Like I said, I’m just here to watch the fun.”

Virgil snarled and pushed himself away from Deceit, running a hand through his hair. There was an uneasy silence for a few minutes before Virgil turned around to face Patton and Roman. 

“Come on, I think I know where to start looking.” He said, holding his hands out for the other two to take. Roman and Patton took his hands and with one last suspicious glance at Deceit they sank out.

**~~~**

When they rise up, Patton is surprised by the normalcy of the Dark Side’s Mindscape. It takes him a moment to get his bearings- the Mindscape is familiar in the way things from a dream are. It looks like their Mindscape, just a little to the left. He and Roman are still adjusting, but Virgil just moves forward, walking like he knows where he’s going. 

He heads straight for the staircase (This one leading down, while theirs leads up,) and pounds down the stairs. Patton and Roman chase after him, not wanting to be left behind.

“Malice!” Virgil yells, voice echoing strangely in the big room. 

“Anxiety,” A voice responds from the darkness, a dangerous purr. There’s no light down here, just darkness. Patton wonders how Virgil can see, when he himself is feeling anxiety crawling up his spine. A nightlight would be pretty great right about now.

“Where’s Logan?” Roman asks, voice tinted with frustration. “What have you fiends done with our friend?”

The voice chuckles, the sound now coming from behind them. Roman whirls around, sword out. 

“He’s unharmed, you can put your sword away. In fact, I’ll give him to you right now.” Roman lowers his sword, brow pinched in confusion. 

“What?”

“Oh come now Creativity, we’re not as bad as Anxiety would have you believe. You can leave with Logic right now- in exchange for Morality.”

“No way,” Virgil says. “We’re not giving you anything. We’ll take Logan by force, you’re not having Patton.”

“Oh Anxiety, you’ve grown so bold. Can’t say I’m a fan,” The voice is hard to pinpoint, it seems to come from the air itself. But if the voice had a face, it would be smirking. Patton can hear it in its voice. Virgil takes the comment in stride without even a flinch. 

“Well, if you insist on finding him yourself, be my guest. He’s in the Subconscious at the moment. Anxiety, you know what it’s like in there, don’t you? Do you think Logic is enjoying himself in there?”   
  


‘You said he wasn’t harmed!” Virgil said, voice cracking. Was that fear? Anger? Patton couldn’t tell, but it was worrying. 

“Well, I meant physically. Physically, he’s fine. But I do wonder what the feeling of powerlessness is doing to him. I’m considering it a science experiment. Hypothesis: If Logic is given enough time without control, then he will fade away into nothing more than a function.”

Fear crawled up Patton’s spine, icy tendrils freezing him where he stood. Surely Logan wouldn’t fade...would he?

“We always had more power over the subconscious, thanks to Morality.” Now the voice moved, whispering right in Patton’s ear. “Always pushing us down, into the dark trying to control us, keep us away from Thomas. But Logic was right, repression does nothing good. So now the subconscious is our realm, but by all means. Try to find Logic in there without fading yourselves.”

“You  _ bastard! _ ” Virgil yelled, voice thick with something that sounded suspiciously like tears. 

“Swear jar, Virgil.” The voice said, mimicking Patton’s tone. 

Patton’s mind was swimming, thought after thought chasing each other. But he knew what was right. The only decision he would ever be able to live with.

“Take me,” He said, voice surprisingly steady. “If you give us Logan back, you can have me.”

“Patton  _ no,”  _ Virgil growled, hand fisting in Patton’s cardigan, his voice taking on the distortion it did when he was especially anxious. “Don’t listen to him, we can get him back. There has to be another way.”

Patton covered Virgil’s hand with his own, smiling sadly.

“It’s okay Virgil.”

He stepped forward, staring directly into the darkness.

“You’ll give him back?” He inquired with a hard edge to his voice.

“You have my word. And I  _ always _ keep my word, just ask Anxiety.”

Patton looked over his shoulder at Virgil, who had several emotions !”warring on his face. Resignation. Fear. Anger. But hidden under all that was acceptance. His shoulders were hunched up to his ears and his eyes were cast down.

Patton looked back towards the darkness and squared his shoulders.

“Okay. Give us Logan. I’ll stay.”

“ _ No!”  _ Roman and Virgil called together, reaching out to grab onto Patton’s shirt, to drag him back with them. But Patton vanished in a swirl of darkness, leaving nothing behind.

“I think you’ll find Logic back in his room on your side of the Mindscape.” The voice purred, sounded like the cat who had gotten the canary. “I’m going to ask you to leave now, please,”

And then Virgil and Roman were being pulled away, out of the room out of the flipped Mindscape, until they reappeared on the floor of the kitchen where they had begun this morning. 

Virgil and Roman stared at each other, both wondering if this was even real. Their impromptu staring contest was broken by a groan from the couch. The two ran out of the kitchen to see Logan sitting up on the couch, glasses missing. He looked fuzzy around the edges, less defined. Transparent.

Virgil ran forward and wrapped Logan in a hug, ignoring the buzz on his skin when he came in contact with his faded edges.

“Virgil?” Logan asked, voice hoarse. “Roman?” Roman came forward and sat on the edge of the coffee table, relief written all over his face. 

“Where’s Patton? What… what happened?”

Logan was squinting up at the other two, who looked at each other, having a silent conversation.

“Patton’s gone. He was taken by the Others. But I have a plan,” Virgil said, looking at the other two, a fire in his eyes,

“And we’re going to get him back.”

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo everybody!  
> I'm posting this from Colorado! Northeners- This? Weather?? Is heavenly??? I'm a Florida enby and like I'm digging this lack of humidity. Anyway- I wrote this in the airport while waiting for my flight, big thanks to the anon who requested this and gave me something to do.  
> Wanna send a request? I'm over on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/demigodnamedathena) and I live for interaction.


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